Rita
by Ruby Roots
Summary: When Mark meets an old college friend, a mystery begins into the death of her brother. Meanwhile Amanda visits a conference in Nirvana, and Jesse is in charge of CJ and Dion.


Mark and Steve walked into their spacious beach house. It was late in the evening, and they had just returned from Barbeque Bob's, the restaurant that Steve owned. Mark was Steve's father and worked at Community General Hospital, as a doctor. Mark was a police officer for the LAPD, and his father sometimes helped him to solve the crimes. It was quite dark in the house, since Mark had become a little obsessed over the cost of all the utility bills, and had turned off every appliance, only to turn it on at the last moment. He had also got rid of any unnecessary electronics. This meant Steve no longer had waffles for breakfast in the morning. Just half a grapefruit.

"Why couldn't we have gone on to Jesse's for coffee?" Steve asked, a little irritated.

"Because I have work tomorrow." Answered Mark, as he hung up his coat.

"Well, why couldn't I go to Jesse's for coffee?" He replied, a little more irritated. "Because you have work tomorrow." Said Mark with a smile.

Steve smiled back, he could never be angry with his father.

Mark walked over to the answering machine.

"_You have one message. Message 1:" _Crackled the voice on the tape, then the message started, it was a women with a quiet voice. "Hello, Dr. Sloan, it's Rita, Rita Jones. I was in town this weekend and wondered whether you wanted to see me, well ring me back, but only if you wanted…I'll see you soon maybe or maybe not. Well I'll see you when I see you. Bye." "_That was your last message_"

"Who's Rita?" Asked Mark, suspiciously.

"Oh she's just an old friend. We went to high school." Replied Steve with a smile. "Timid little girl." He sighed, as he remembered her. "Rita Jones, well, I haven't heard from her in years. She stopped studying medicine when her brother died. Oh she was such a nice girl, it would be great to see what she's up to."

"Well, you can ring her in the morning." Said Steve. "After all, it's late and _you have work tomorrow._"

Jesse walked into the ward at Community General Hospital. The first thing that hit him as he stepped out the elevator, was the colour. Amanda was waiting for him at the reception desk, grimacing at the walls. Pastel yellow. Mmm… It could have been nicer colour. Amanda was just leaving, she had her sunglasses on, even though it was late autumn, and was quite cloudy outside. She looked like she was about to go to a beach holiday. Amanda wished she was. If she looked like she was going to the beach, it might just drift her mind away from the medical conference, that awaited her just north of California in Nirvana. It wasn't the weekend she had in mind.

"What's with the walls?" Asked Jesse.

"Mark thought a change of colour would make the patients feel better." Replied Amanda, peering over the sunglasses.

"Who thinks that staring a yellow wall will make you feel better?" Jesse said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well I don't agree with everything Mark says, but it does look brighter."

"Is that what the sunglasses are for?" Jesse grinned. Amanda gave him a cold look, though it was hard to tell through the dark shades.

"Ha de ha ha." Amanda replied, sarcastically, sticking her tongue out. "Well, I need to go, or I'll miss my train." She added, checking her watch. "Tell Steve and Mark I said goodbye, and I'll get them a present." She adjusted her large floppy sunhat and picked up her suitcase and left. Jesse smiled. He hoped she had a nice time. Though he didn't like to admit it, he did have a crush on her. Though Jesse had a crush on a lot of girls. He'd recently split up with his girlfriend Susan, though he didn't really care. She had a shrill voice, and was nearly always angry with Jesse for some reason or another. She was now in New York, having switched hospitals. She sometimes wrote, but almost always asking for money. Her student loans and lifestyle had got the better of her and she was facing bankruptcy. She'd run off with the chiropractor at community general, to New York and the chiropractor hadn't been heard from since. Jesse turned back to the small mound of paperwork that had accumulated on the desk in front of him. He heaved a sigh, it would be a long day.

"Hello. Rita?" Dr. Mark Sloan mumbled down the phone.

"Oh, um Mark, Hi, nice to hear from you." Came the reply. "I was hoping you'd call back. It's been so long"

"Too long." Answered Mark. "I was calling to say you're welcome to stay with me for the weekend. Just head over sometime Friday night."

"Oh thank you Mark, you're such a good friend. I'll see you tomorrow." Then Rita put the phone down.

Tomorrow? Mark dropped the phone. I hit the ground with a dull thud and bounced once. He had no idea that it was Thursday. He had promised Steve he'd take him to dinner with his new girlfriend. Oh how could he be so stupid. He quickly picked up the phone and redialled Rita's phone number.

"_The other person: Is on the phone_." Said the robotic voice. "_Try again in a moment." _The line was engaged, he had to contact her somehow.

Amanda sat on the bus reading a book. It was midday and she still had another two hours to go till she got to the conference. They had passed the border and were now in Nirvana. It was warm in the bus and there was a smell for engine oil, that was giving Amanda a headache. She sat next to a man in a dark suit. He was reading a large newspaper which was getting in the way of Amanda's reading. The main story was about a sporting event being rained out, and the man was continuously moaning, and sighing. It was unbelievably annoying for Amanda, but she knew that the coach was only a few hours away.


End file.
